Blending Spaces : : Mediating and Assessing Intercultural Competence in the L2 Classroom / / Arnd Witte.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DGBA Backlist Complete English Language 2000-2014 PART1
• VerfasserIn: Witte, Arnd,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter Mouton, , [2014]; ©2014
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Language: English
• Series: Trends in Applied Linguistics [TAL] , 8
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (447 p.)

This book comprehensively analyzes the development of interculturally blended third spaces by the second language learner, beginning with the linguistic and sociocultural imprints of the first language and culture on the mind and culminating in the proposal of a phase-model of the development of intercultural competence. The foundational analysis of L1-mediated constructs is followed by an analysis of forms interaction, concepts of identity and constructs of culture/interculture, thus shifting the object of analysis from the subjective to the intersubjective levels of construction and interaction. The focus of the book is on the gradual development of interculturally blended third spaces in the mind of the learner as genuinely new bases for construction. This book takes an interdisciplinary approach, drawing on research in cultural psychology, linguistic anthropology, critical theory, language acquisition and second language learning and shows how culture and interculture need to be emphasized as an integral part of second language learning.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- 1 Introduction: The interplay of languages, cultures, and minds -- 2 First language acquisition and early cognitive development -- 3 Formation of concepts and plausibility structures -- 4 Language and the intersubjective construction of meaning -- 5 Imposing structure on language-in-use: From language philosophy to discourse analysis -- 6 The dynamics of identity -- 7 The complexities of culture -- 8 The interplay of cultures: Constructs of interculture -- 9 Fostering intercultural competence in the second language classroom -- 10 Mediating and assessing intercultural competence in the L2 classroom -- 11 Conclusion -- References -- Name index -- Subject index